Improvement in street letter-boxes



,C. L. EVERT & A. JOHNSON; I

Street Lettlf-Boxes.

Fran;

LHARLIIS L. EYERT, O1 WVASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, AND ASA JOHNSON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

HifiPROVEMENT IN STREET LETTER-BOXES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. ifififitlg, dated February 25, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, CHAR-LES L. Evnnr, of Washington, District of Columbia, and ASA JOHNsON, of the city of New York, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Street Letter-Boxes and do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdeseription thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

Avery serious inconvenience in the present system and construction of street letter-boxes is the absence of any information about the times when such boxes are to be emptied. Uomparatively few persons are aware of the time or times when the letter-boxes are to be emptied and their contents taken to the postofiice, and hence, when a letter is dropped in one of said boxes, the sender does not know if the letter will be taken out in time for the mail on the same day or not.

The object of our invention is to furnish a simple and convenient means for indicating the time when the lett' r-box will be emptied, and one which shall be utomatic in its operation in so far that it will not require any more labor of the letter-carrier than the mere opening and closing of the lid or door to the box, which he must always do when the box is to be emptied of its contents. The nature of our invention, therefore, consists in combining with a street letter-box a register or indicator, to be operated automatically by the opening or closing of the lid or door to the box, for the' purpose of indicating at what time the box will be emptied the next time and the contents taken to the post-otlice.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which our invention appertains to make and use the same, we will now proceed to describe its construction and operation, referring to the annexed drawing which forms a part of this specification, and in which- 7 V Figure 1 is a perspective view, Fig. 2 a transverse vertical section, and Fig. 3 a horizontal section, of our invention.

A represents the body of a street letter-box, made of one continuous piece of corrugated sheet metal, bent in proper form, the ends overlapping each other, and soldered or otherwise firmly united together. The lower edge,

around all four sides of the body A, is bent inward, forming a flange or ledge, a, upon which the bottom B is placed, and to which it is firmly united; or the sides of the box may bemade of such dimensions that they can be bent inward, forming the bottom 13, the edges of the two sides being soldered together. The bottom B is also made of corrugated sheet metal, though it may be made of plain sheet or cast metal. The lid 0 in the same manner may be made of sheet or cast metal; but we prefer to make the entire box of corrugated sheet metal, as it can be manufactured a great deal cheaper than those made entirely of cast metal, and at the same time be fully as strong and durable, and may be made so as to present a far more neat and tasteful appearance. D represents a vertical partition inside of the box, which partition is slipped down in two opposite grooves or corrugations on the body A, said corrugations being made deeper for that purpose. The partition D may beleft loose in the same or soldered to them, so as to remain permanentlyin place, and in either case dividing the box into two compartments, one intended for letters and the other for newspapers. In the i'ront side of the box are two openings, D Z), one to each compartment, and one larger than the other, and both provided with the usual box-shaped month. One cover, 4, may answer for both openings, and on the same may be made or affixed the words N ewspapers and Letters, to indicate through which opening the papers and letters are to be deposited. In dividing a letter-box in this manner into two compartments we do not confine ourselves to boxes made of sheet metal, as boxes of any material may be thus arranged. Near one end of the box is another vertical partition, E, the upper end of which is bent down horizontally, forming a casing; or aseparate casing may be made and attached on the inside of the box 5 or the bottom B of V the box may be made to extend upward and form said casing. Within the casing thus formed is placed a wheel, D, upon the periph- =ery of which are attached, formed, or otherwise aftixed figures or numbers at suitable 1ntervalsto correspond with the hours it is intended that the letter'box is to be emptied of its contents. In the side of the letter-box is an aperture, (1, large enough so that either of said figures 011 the wheel D, may be seen through it when the wheel is turned to bring the same opposite said aperture. The side of the casing E (if the same is made separate from the letter-box) which is against the side of the box having the aperture a should be open so that the wheel 1) will be close to the same. The aperture to may be provided with a piece of glass, so that every part of the wheel will be inclosed and cannot be tampered with. The wheel D turns on a shaft or journal, b, and on one side of the wheel is attached or formed a ratchet-wheel, G, into the teeth of which works a spring-pawl, a, pivoted to an arm, d, placed loosely on the shaft or journal b. The outer end of this arm d is attached to a bar, J, which passes through a slot in the casing, and its upper end is pivoted to an ear or projection on theinner side of the lid or door 0, so that by the opening of the lid or door the wheel D will be revolved by the arm and pawl and ratchet-wheel. Another pawl may be arranged to work in the teeth of the ratchet-wheel to prevent the wheel D from turning backward. The pawl and wheel may be so arranged that the movement of the wheel will be effected by the closing instead of the opening of the lid or door. The figures or numbers may be placed on the side of the wheel 1) instead of on the periphery, in which case said wheel and the aperture a should be arranged as shown in Fig.3. The aperture a may be in the lid or door of the box, and in this case the casing E should be attached to the same, and the arm or bar J connected with the side or bottom of the box.

The proper figures or numbers being affixed at proper intervals to the wheel D, as above described, it is of course evident that every time the lid or door is opened and closed the wheel will be revolved a certain distance, and

thus automatically set to indicate the next time the box will be emptied.

Above the aperture a may be aih xed a plate with the words This box will be emptied at, or other words of similar import.

In addition to the convenience to the public of such an indicator, it also answers the purpose of a check on the letter-carrier if he should fail to empty the box at the designated time. It will cause no additional trouble to the carrier, as the indicator or register is automatic in its operation. The carrier must open and close the lid or door to the box, and it is this very act of opening (or closing) which operates the device.

A device of this kind may be applied to any of the street letter-boxes now in use at small expense, and will prove of very great conven ience.

A catch maybe arranged when a lid is used on the box, or a chain when a door is used, to prevent the lid or door from opening too far, and to hold the same open while the letter-carrier is removing the contents, and thus at the same time insure the proper working of the indicator.

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination with a street letter-box of a register or indicator, operated by the opening or closing of the lid or door of the box, for the purposes herein set forth.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing we have hereunto set our hands this 6th day of January, 1873.

CHARLES L. EVER/l ASA JOHNSON.

Witnesses A. N. Mann, JAs. Heronrasorr. 

